Singapore, HK, Japan have best institutions
Singapore, HK, Japan have best institutions
SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan boast Asia's most highly regarded institutions while Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia and China are seen to have the worst, according to a survey of expatriate executives.
The Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. (PERC) asked 400 executives to rate the police and judiciary, the monetary authority, the legislature, and the stock market regulator in 10 Asian countries.
On a scale of one to 10, with zero as the best possible grade, Singapore averaged 3.15 for the four categories, with its monetary authority getting the highest rating at 2.28 points, said a PERC report received here Tuesday.
Hong Kong averaged 3.65 points, and its monetary authority scored highest in any category for all countries at 2.05 points. Japan was a far third with an average of 5.0 points.
Although the survey was undertaken in the first quarter of 1997, well before Hong Kong's handover to China on July 1, PERC said "results to date would seem to indicate that Hong Kong's institutions have come through in the best possible shape."
"Hong Kong's political status may have changed, not its economic institutions," it said, but added that the independence of legal and monetary institutions from China could be tested in the future.
The Philippines came in fourth at 5.13 points, with its central bank scoring well, but its police and judiciary were poorly regarded, scoring 7.07 points.
Some Philippine policemen have been linked to criminal activities such as kidnapping and drugs, while corruption charges have tainted the judiciary's image, PERC noted.
Malaysia was a close fifth at 5.22 points but was described by PERC as "boringly average."
"Our survey did not include any damning indictment of key Malaysian institutions. On the other hand, few of our respondents seemed particularly impressed with their performance either," it remarked.
On the negative side of the survey, China fared worst with an average of 7. 2 points. The poorest score was given to the stock market regulatory authority.
South Korea had the second worst scores. PERC said its institutions are "well established and maturing rapidly" but the legislature was seen as the weakest institution and regulations in the form of licensing and permits "give birth to preferential treatment and corruption."
PERC also cited the scandals and political clashes bedeviling the country, but noted that problems in the financial sector were being "addressed most vigorously" and that the central bank got better ratings than other institutions in the survey.
Third worst spot was taken by Indonesia, whose economy is doing well but "political institutions, it seems, command little respect" and the judiciary is faced with a huge backlog of appeals and allegations of corruption, PERC said.
The legislature "is regarded as a mere rubber stamp," while police face a serious "public relations nightmare," with stations increasingly targeted during riots.
The lowest score for any institution in any country in the survey was given to Indonesia's police and judiciary, at 8.34 points. But the central Bank Indonesia had a better-than-average score.
As for seventh-ranked Thailand, currently undergoing a severe financial crisis, PERC said "the reputation of Thai institutions covered by our survey continues to sink. Many Thais would rate them even lower than our respondents. "
The "hardest blow" has been the central Bank of Thailand's "debacle," PERC said, adding that "its shortcomings have shaken confidence as nothing else has done because it was always seen as being above the disorder of politics and business."